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Seattle's IRISH WEEK 2015
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Please help us publicize Irish Week in Seattle
by liking us on Facebook
and by forwarding this newsletter to your friends!
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Saturday, March 14, 12:30 pm
St. Patrick's Day Parade
Grand Marshal
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray
Click Photo for more information
Honorary Grand Marshals
Cathryn & Danny Quinn
Click Photo for more information
Special Guest Galway Mayor Donal Lyons Galway and Seattle have been Sister Cities since March 11, 1986
Irish Week 2014
Click image for the full 2015 Irish Week Program
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 Matt Talbot Dinner
6 pm, F X McRory's. This annual fundraiser for Seattle's downtown Homeless Program that is named for Dubliner Matt Talbot, completely closes down F X McRory's to raise funds for the Belltown area treatment program that serves the homeless, addicted and mentally ill. The proceeds help fund the Center's 56-units of mixed transitional housing and a separate transitional housing unit for women. Among the special honorees at Thursday's dinner is 95-year-old Fr. Bill Treacy, the Co. Laois native who founded Camp Brotherhood (now called The Treacy Levine Center) in Arlington. Tickets ($100 suggested) at mtcenter.org.
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St. Patrick's Day Mass for Peace
10 am, St. Patrick's Church, 2702 Broadway E (1 block NE of Roanoke & I-5), Seattle. This annual Mass for Peace in Ireland is this year being held at St. Patrick's Church. An Irish Choir will be accompanied by a Bagpiper, Harpist and Pianist. Presider and homilist is Seattle's Catholic Archbishop Peter Sartain. For more details, email Mass@irishclub.org.
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SOLD OUT!
Mayor's Irish Week Proclamation Luncheon
Noon, F X McRory's, 419 Occidental Ave S, Seattle . This is also our quarterly Irish Seniors' Luncheon. Proclamations of Irish Week 2015 will be issued by the City, County and State, and Marshals Sashes and Starters Whistles will be presented. Among the special guests will be the St. Patrick's Day Parade Grand Marshal Mayor Ed Murray, the Honorary Grand Marshals Cathryn & Danny Quinn, Galway Mayor Donal Lyons, and other dignitaries. For more details, email JaneS@irishclub.org.
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St. Patrick's Landing
South Lake Union, 6 pm
St. Patrick was originally brought to Ireland by Irish pirates around 400 AD. Over 1600 years later, Seattle's Pirates of the Emerald Isle will bring him back to the Emerald City, dropping him off at South Lake Union (near MOHAI) at 6 pm. Not exactly trusting the Pirates, St. Patrick is bringing with him as his bodyguard US National Boxing Champion Queen Underwood. All are welcome to join the fun by climbing on board the Ride the Ducks' Boat at F X McRory's at 5 pm for the trip to South Lake Union. The Ducks Boat will bring us back to McRory's by 6:30 pm for the Green Stripe Laying. No admission fee and kids are welcome. For more details, email GreenStripe@irishclub.org.
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 John Doyle Bishop Memorial Green Stripe
7 pm, on 4th Ave from Jefferson to Westlake Park.
In the 1960s, John Doyle Bishop started this custom of painting a Seattle street green for St. Patrick's Day. Join us in this mini-Parade to mark a green stripe down the center of 4th Avenue marking the route of the St. Patrick's Day Parade. The painting starts on 4th Avenue from Jefferson Street at 7 pm. You can participate by climbing on board the covered flat-bed truck or the Ride the Ducks Boat at 6:30 pm at F X McRory's. Children are very welcome and there is no charge! For more details, visit irishweek.org or email GreenStripe@irishclub.org.
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 Irish Flag-Raising and the
St. Patrick's Day Parade
At 12:20 pm, the Parade Grand Marshal Mayor Ed Murray, the Honorary Grand Marshals Danny & Cathryn Quinn, Galway Mayor Donal Lyons, Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O'Toole and other dignitaries, will raise the Irish Tricolor in front of the King-County Administration Building on 4th Ave at Jefferson.
That will be immediately followed by trumpeters playing the Irish and US National Anthems.
Then at 12:30 pm, the Marshals' whistles will sound to officially start Seattle's 44th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. The parade heads north on 4th Ave to Westlake Park at Pine Street where the Reviewing Stand is located.
See the Parade ORDER OF MARCH which lists all groups that have registered. However, anybody with an Irish connection is invited to walk in the Parade without any pre-registration. Seniors are welcome to ride for free in the Ride the Ducks "Seniors Shamrock Shuttle" which can be boarded at 4th Ave and James starting at 12 noon. 
The Monorail will be free from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm to ride from Westlake to the Seattle Center. At approximately 2:30 pm, Parade closing ceremonies will be held on the main stage in the Armory during the Irish Festival.
For more details, visit irishclub.org.
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Galway Mayor's Reception
Organized by Irish Network Seattle, the visitors from Seattle's Sister City of Galway are hosted at a St. Patrick's Day Happy Hour from 4-7 pm at Chandler's Crabhouse, 901 Fairview Ave N, Seattle (South Lake Union). No admission fee - visit irishnetworkseattle.org for details.
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 St. Patrick's Day Dash
The first wave starts at 8:30 am from 3rd & Mercer near the Seattle Center with the last wave (the walkers) going off 20 minutes later. Started in 1985 as a training event for Irish Olympian Regina Joyce, The Dash is now in its 31st year as Seattle's largest single-distance run where the winners cross the finish before the last person starts, filling nearly four miles of Seattle streets with a ribbon of green. Expect upwards of 13,000 runners, and there's no race-day registration. For details, visit stpatsdash.com.
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Irish Community Happy Hour
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm, at the Knights of Columbus Banquet Hall, 722 E Union (1 block west of Broadway), Seattle. Join members of the Friends of St. Patrick, Irish Network Seattle, the Seattle Gaels and the Irish Heritage Club to start the St. Patrick's Day Eve celebrations in style! Entertainment provided by the Owl 'n Thistle Band, the Seattle Police Pipes and Drums, and the Tara Academy Irish Dancers. Tickets are $30 per person which includes two free drinks, hors d'oeuvres and free parking. Black-tie or business attire, and reservations are requested. For details, visit FOSP.org or call 425-290-7839.
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 Friends of St. Patrick 75th Anniversary Banquet
6:30 pm, at the Knights of Columbus Banquet Hall, 722 E Union (1 block west of Broadway), Seattle. Join Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, Galway Mayor Donal Lyons, Lt. Governor Brad Owens and other dignitaries and guests at this black-tie (optional) dinner and dance to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the Society of the Friends of St. Patrick in Seattle. The dinner and a short auction will raise funds for educational scholarships to local institutions. Tickets are $100 per person and include parking, the Irish Community Happy Hour (see above), wine with the meal and dancing afterwards. For tickets, call 425-821-3044, email Friends@irishclub.org, or visit fosp.org.
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Saturday & Sunday
March 14 & 15
IRISH FESTIVAL 2015
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Saturday Noon - 6 pm
Sunday 10 am - 6 pm (8 hours)
at the Seattle Center's Armory
Admission to all activities on both days is FREE. The Festival features non-stop Irish music, singing and dancing, booths selling Irish and Celtic products, Irish workshops, lectures, cultural displays, children's contests and activities, Irish Language, Genealogy and History Workshops, Art Exhibits and more. Family-oriented activities include wonderful Irish Musicians along with  Champion Irish Stepdancers from around the Pacific Northwest. Events for children include the "Smilingest Irish Eyes Contest" and the "Most Irish-Looking Face Contest", and there's a hands-on Children's Activities Center where Lego Artist Dan Parker will recreate some of the Irish historical heroes and mythological figures featured in the writings of Irish poet W B Yeats.
FEATURED AT IRISH FESTIVAL 2015
 IRISH AUTHOR CARMEL KELLY
To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of WB Yeats, Irish author and writer Carmel Kelly has traveled from Ireland to give talks on W B Yeats during the Irish Festival. Carmel has a BA H.Dip LIS History and Women's Studies from University College Dublin and is currently with the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Library Service. She writes for children in both Irish and English, tours schools, libraries and book festivals around Ireland giving readings and writing workshops, and reviews books for Childrens Books Ireland.
 ARTIST PATRICK McCARTHY
Patrick was born in Kilcornan, Co. Limerick, and grew up living in a traditional, whitewashed, thatched cottage. At a very early age he exhibited a talent for drawing and was initially self taught. He moved to the USA in the late 1960's and studied at the College of San Mateo and at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. There he developed the ink resist medium and evolved the distinctive style that characterizes his paintings. McCarthy returns again and again to Ireland to capture the beauty and decay of the landscapes, the stone walls, winding roads and green fields. See his works Saturday and Sunday in the Upper Level Gallery during the Irish Festival.
 JOHN & ALICE COOPER'S POSTCARDS
The Coopers again grace the Irish Festival with their wonderful display of thousands of antique Irish postcards, plus 48 original reproductions of Bartlett's Views of Ireland dating from the 1840s, done just a few years before the Great Potato Famine. The Coopers' collection provides an interesting glimpse into the social history, cultural history and material culture of Ireland, especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s, considered to be the "Golden Age of Postcards".
 On Sunday afternoon, a lucky winner will go home after winning two free trips to Ireland courtesy of Tangerine Travel in Bothell. You do not have to be present to win, but you must visit the Irish Heritage Club booth in order to participate in the draw. More details at Draw@irishclub.org.
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Irish Reels Film Festival
 Noon - 5 pm Saturday and Sunday in one of the Armory Loft Rooms during the Irish Festival. Now in its 18th year, Irish Reels presents a wonderful collection of refreshing and exciting new works in Irish cinema. Free admission both days. Among the films being shown is The Irish Pub, a eulogy to the greatest institution in Irish society, the pub, and Natural Grace, the documentary about Irish fiddler Martin Hayes - see film schedule at irishreels.org.
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Irish Genealogy Workshop
 9 am - 5 pm, at Luther Memorial Lutheran Church Hall, 13047 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle. This all-day workshop will provide a broad overview of Irish genealogical research, benefiting beginners and seasoned genealogists alike. It is practical, wide ranging, factual and informative. Cost is $38 per person which includes a box lunch. For reservations and more information, visit irishclub.org, or email Genealogy@IrishClub.org. |
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Seattle Gaels Field Day
 The annual Gaelic Games Open Field Day is at Magnuson Park, 7400 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, from Noon to 3 pm for anyone interested, men and women, girls and boys, to try their hand at any of the games of Hurling, Gaelic Football or Camogie. For details, email Gaels@IrishClub.org or visit SeattleGaels.com. |
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Click to see the full 2015 Irish Week Program
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Irish Week 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Irish poet William Butler Yeats
Born June 13, 1865, William Butler Yeats was one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. Yeats belonged to the Protestant, Anglo-Irish minority that had controlled the economic, political, social, and cultural life of Ireland since at least the end of the seventeenth century. Most members of this minority considered themselves English people who merely happened to have been born in Ireland, but Yeats was staunch in affirming his Irish nationality.He gloried in his Irish cultural roots, and featured Irish legends and heroes in many of his poems and plays. He produced nationalistic plays such as "The Countess Kathleen"(1892), and"Cathleen ni Houlihan"(1902) which featured Cathleen as the personification of Ireland. The success of these productions led to the founding of The Abbey Theatre in 1904 with Yeats as president. Yeats reacted to the Easter Rebellion in 1916 by writing"Easter, 1916,"an eloquent expression of his complex feelings of shock and romantic admiration. He was also a world renowned artist of impressive stature and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms. He died January 28, 1939 and is buried in Co. Sligo. His headstone's epitaph are words from one of his poems: Cast a cold eye / On life, on death. / Horseman, pass by!
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For more details on any Irish Week event, email IrishWeek@irishclub.org, or visit
To see photos from the 2014 Luncheon, St. Patrick's Day Parade or Irish Festival, visit Irish Week 2014.
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Luby & Thomson, Certified Public Accountants, 206-628-4991 providing a full spectrum of tax and accounting services
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  Buy any of our colorful Irish-themed flags for St. Patrick's Day and we will make a contribution to the Irish Heritage Club |
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ARE YOU A 2015 IRISH HERITAGE CLUB MEMBER? All memberships are calendar year memberships which expire on December 31. Please show support for Irish activities in the Seattle area by making sure your membership is current. Membership is open to anyone interested in "Things Irish". Dues are $20 (single membership) or $30 (family membership), and you can pay by cash, check, or Secure Credit Card. For more information, email Membership@irishclub.org or visit irishclub.org.
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2015 Members remain in good standing until March 31, 2016
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This newsletter is mailed on behalf of the Irish Heritage Club and its affiliated programs including: Ceol Cascadia Irish Music Association; Friends of St. Patrick in Seattle; Irish Heritage Players; Irish Network Seattle; Irish Reels Film Festival; Seattle Gaels Gaelic Football, Hurling & Camogie; Seattle Galway Sister City Association; Seattle Irish Immigrant Support; and Tacoma Rangers Hurling & Gaelic Football. For more information on these programs, visit IrishClub.org.
Funding assistance provided by the Irish Abroad Unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin is gratefully acknowledged.
Copyright © 2015 John Keane who is solely responsible for the content. All Rights Reserved.
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